June 6, 2007

Gap Names Patrick Robinson New Head of Design

Hot on the tails of his GO Internationalcollection for Target, Patrick Robinson's days as designer for a mass retail chain will soon be extended – this time for Gap Inc. The company named Robinson executive vice president of design for Gap Adult and Gapbody as of May 29.

Robinson was most recently the artistic director for Paco Rabanne in Paris, where his collections have received a mixed response since he began designing for them in 2005. Prior to Paco Rabanne, Robinson designed for Perry Ellis, Anne Klein and Giorgio Armani.

The announcement of Robinson - one of Vogue's 100 rising stars in 1996 as head designer at Gap is a part of the company's design overhaul. Facing slagging sales at the end of the 2006 fiscal year, Gap's then-CEO Paul Pressler stepped down. In April, Gap produced a series of limited edition white shirts designed by CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winners Doo.Ri Chung, Thakoon Panichgul and Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte.Source